Essence and Commission
by Rev. Lance Armstrong O’Donnell, Pastor
St. Philip Lutheran Church and School
Chicago, Illinois
The First Sunday after Easter
11 April, A.D. 2010
Ps 148; Acts 5.12-20 (21-32); Rev 1.4-18; Jn 20.19-31
Central Christological Thought (CCT):
In His “Resurrection Eve” appearance to the Apostles Jesus: 1) reiterates the essence of His purpose and teaching; and 2) commissions them to extend His ministry.
Introduction
. . . Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, . . . from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. (Revelation 1:4-5, ESV) [Amen]
Today we see that [CCT] In His “Resurrection Evening” appearance to the Apostles Jesus: 1) reiterates the essence of His purpose and teaching; and 2) commissions them to extend His ministry.
It will be helpful, then, to begin by defining what we mean by essence and commission...
es’sence n. [F., fr. essentia, formed as if fr. a pres. part. of esse to be...] 2. Logic. . . . b. ... the totality of those properties or attributes which are indispensable to whatever can be named by a certain term or classified as a certain class.
The “essence” defines a thing. For example, today they will be playing golf at a famous course in Georgia, and there are certain officials there so-designated to ensure that it is golf that is played. If one of the players tees up a large, oblong, leather ball with a small set of laces in the center, the rules official will say something like, “Sir, you may hit that football with your driver, but I can assure you that it will disqualify you from this tournament. We will be playing golf today at The Masters, and golf, by definition, requires a ‘small, resilient ball’.”
In other words, tee up a football on a golf course and you have something, but it is not golf, for of the essence of golf is the “small resilient ball.”
Today, again, we will be talking about the “essence of Christ’s purpose and teaching.” In a minute, we will learn what that essence is.
First, however, let’s speak of “Christ’s Apostolic Commission.”
I. Christ’s Apostolic Commission.
com-mis’sion n. [F., fr. L. commissio...] 1. A formal written warrant or authority, granting certain powers or privileges and authorizing or commanding the performance of certain duties...
You’ll notice that commission is a compound word made up of the prefix com- meaning “together” or “with”--and the root mission--meaning, roughly, “sent with a purpose.” And that is, astonishingly and profoundly, what Jesus is doing on Easter Evening:
"Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”" (John 20:21, ESV)
To these men who had the doors locked because they were afraid Jesus sent out as the personal extension of His ministry. Just as Son of God was begotten of the Father and sent into the world, so were the Apostles sent of the Son into the world. And this not a one-time event, for the Greek has the present-progressive tense, “I am sending.” That is, Jesus will continue His ministry through the Apostles and the Church that is founded upon their witness of Him. Jesus, in fact, had foretold this in His “high priestly prayer” offered in the Upper Room on the night of His betrayal:
“I do not ask [pray] for these [Apostles] only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word," (John 17:20, ESV)
This speaks of the reality that St. Paul later reminds us of in chapter two of his Letter to the Ephesians:
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22, ESV)
The Word of Christ that comes to us from the Apostles and Prophets is the foundation of the church. The question for us, now, is: What is the essence of that Word?
II. The Essence of Christ’s Purpose and Teaching
And this brings us back to Easter Evening and the subsequent words of Jesus, but here I want to quote from the Revised Standard Version, which (in this case) does a better job of rendering the original:
"Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”" (John 20:21-23, RSV)
To those Christ had just given His authority to continue His ministry, His first word about what they would preach is about the forgiveness of sin. FORGIVENESS OF SINS is the essence of the church’s proclamation.
The essence of Christ’s purpose and teaching is not about earning God’s favor; it is not about looking good in the sight of your neighbors; it is not about self-actualization. It is about, in the words of St. Paul:
... God [in Christ] reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19, ESV)
Christ didn’t suffer the cross because we had fallen into benign little “mistakes.” God didn’t require the sacrifice of the Eternally Begotten Son of God because we were good “but not just quite good enough.” Friends, the Scriptures are clear:
"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, ESV)
Of necessity, Christ’s message of forgiveness, of reconciliation, means that the church must also, as Jesus says, “retain sins.” That word--retain--does not mean “don’t forgive.” The “retaining of sins” is, rather, Godly, Fatherly, “discipline.” It’s “binding” sin, “holding” the sinner like a parent does to a child who has just done something very wrong: “Do you realize what you’ve done????”
Indeed, it is the Church’s God-given responsibility to call people to repentance, and that means the proclamation, as we Lutherans say, of “Law and Gospel”…
- God wants us to love our spouses, not demean them.
- God wants us to honor our parents, not steal from them.
- God says, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” so “take the plank out of your own eye” before you arrogantly say “My way or the highway.”
- God says, “be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry,” not “claim your rights and get up your opponent’s grill.”
- God says, “speak the truth in love,” for truth--without love--is actually malice.
And the truth--about us and about God--is spoken in loving candor through his prophet, Isaiah:
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [on Christ] the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6, ESV)
Conclusion
What we deserve the Lord Jesus lovingly took upon Himself. Through Christ we are forgiven, and this forgiveness--and, thus, the proclamation of Law and Gospel--is the essence of Christ’s purpose and ministry. It is who we are. . . in church, at home, and in the community. Therefore,
to [Christ] who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. . . (Revelation 1:4-6, ESV)
Christ is risen! [He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!]
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